Outdoors: Teens are crossing Adirondack Park

GILLIAN SCOTT

Published 11:10 pm, Thursday, June 6, 2013

Photo provided by Ryan Wichelns. Stillwater residents Gabe Messercola, left, and Ryan Wichelns will start a 200-mile three-week odyssey across the Adirondack Park tomorrow. Here, they stand at their starting point, the border to the park on Route 309 near Benson.
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Photo provided by Ryan Wichelns. Stillwater residents Gabe...

Photo provided by Ryan Wichelns. Stillwater residents Gabe Messercola, left, and Ryan Wichelns will start a 200-mile three-week odyssey across the Adirondack Park tomorrow. Here, they stand at their starting point, the border to the park on Route 309 near Benson.
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Photo provided by Ryan Wichelns. Stillwater residents Gabe...

Photo provided by Ryan Wichelns. Stillwater residents Gabe Messercola, left, and Ryan Wichelns will start a 200-mile three-week odyssey across the Adirondack Park tomorrow. Here, they stand at their starting point, the border to the park on Route 309 near Benson.
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Both adventures are ambitious goals for the two teens, who have been friends for most of their lives. Wichelns said the longest backpack they've done before this was only four days long. But they've planned the traverse meticulously, stocking up on gear and setting a route that will allow them plenty of time to relax and enjoy the scenery. They're not worried about black flies or taking a wrong turn.

"We've spent probably the better part of a year perfecting this route," Wichelns said. "We've spent a lot of energy and a lot of time really going over the route and talking to a lot of different people who have more experience in certain parts of it than we would, to really make sure that we know what we're looking at."

Wichelns and Messercola have laid out an itinerary that combines the Northville-Placid Trail with the Seven Carries canoe route. They'll start on the "blue line" on Route 309 in Benson, using bicycles to reach the southernmost trailhead of the NP Trail. They'll follow the trail on foot for 11 days until they reach Lake Placid. After a short hike to Oseetah Lake, they'll switch to a canoe, which will take them most of the rest of the way. Their support team – parents and friends – will move the bikes and canoe from place to place as needed, as well as resupplying them with food and clean clothes along the route.

With most of their hiking experience on peaks, the Adirondack traverse will offer Wichelns and Messercola a taste of something very different. Though it winds through the state's highest mountains, their path will follow lowlands and waterways.

"It's really like nothing we've ever done," Wichelns said. "We've spent the majority of our time in the mountains doing as much climbing as possible. This we're looking forward to as something that we can kind of relax on a little bit more."

Wichelns said he and Messercola have always loved the outdoors but really started hiking together about five years ago, when a backpacking trip up Marcy turned them on to climbing the Adirondack High Peaks, the mountains with summits over 4,000 feet in elevation. (As of last week, they were just a few peaks away from having climbed all 46.)

Until Wichelns got his drivers license, every trip involved his father, Chuck Wichelns, who acted as their chauffeur.

Last year, Wichelns and Messercola took off for their first solo adventure. They'll be on their own for much of the traverse, too, though a friend will be hiking in to meet them on several sections to help record the trip.

It's not all just for fun, though. They want to bring attention to their upcoming climb of Mt. Ranier, which will raise money for Big City Mountaineers, a Colorado-based charity that takes inner city youths on wilderness expeditions. Wichelns and Messercola hope to raise $8,000 through the organization's charitable arm, Summit for Someone.